Mixing server-side technologies, why? or why not?

[floyde]

Hi guys, I've been doing a lot of research on web technologies lately because I want to start my own web design business. For reasons that I briefly discussed here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=162393) (last post), I have chosen ASP .NET to be my main server side technology. However, I also want to take advantage of several PHP open source projects, such as these forums (http://www.phpbb.com/), at least until I have the time to build my own. I couldn't think of any unsurmountable disadvantage that would result from using both ASP .NET and PHP on the same site, but maybe I'm missing the whole picture as I still lack a lot of experience in web development. What do you guys think? Would you use both in this case? why or why not?
Also, consider that both asp's and php's would run on the same web server (apache with mod_mono) and that the PHP stuff would be ready-made (ASP .NET stuff I will develop myself). Thanks

[Malfoy]

Depending on how many "layers" you are working with,your biggest issue would probably be remembering the proper syntax during your db call the first time through. I have to ask though, if all the big projects are php driven, why not just use php?

[ChicoWeb]

Yah, and it just looks odd as a surfer to see multiple file extensions in my eyes. I've never seen it before and would look fishy if I was surfing your site.

[floyde]

I have to ask though, if all the big projects are php driven, why not just use php?
Well PHP is a great tool, but here are several reasons why I prefer ASP .NET:

I have a very strong Object Oriented Programming background. I know PHP supports OOP, but it wasn't designed to be that way in the first place. I don't like its implementation so much.
I currently have a job as a .NET developer (mostly winforms stuff)
I'm about to be certified as a .NET developer.
I have a mini framework written in .NET that already handles the database stuff (amongst other things) and does it reasonably well.
Linux is not so big where I live, most of my potential customers are moving to .NET. Most of them have windows servers.
"spaghetti" code inside html tags gives me a headache:)
If my business doesn't succeed, it would be easier for me to get another job if I had been working with .NET during my absence (.NET pays better than PHP)
I know it is very easy to learn, but I currently don't know PHP.


Yah, and it just looks odd as a surfer to see multiple file extensions in my eyes. I've never seen it before and would look fishy if I was surfing your site.
But it would only be the forums;) . It's almost like one of those sites where the forums are hosted by a third party. Other than that, do you think there is a technical reason why I shouldn't do this?

[ChicoWeb]

Well PHP is a great tool, but here are several reasons why I prefer ASP .NET:

I have a very strong Object Oriented Programming background. I know PHP supports OOP, but it wasn't designed to be that way in the first place. I don't like its implementation so much.
I currently have a job as a .NET developer (mostly winforms stuff)
I'm about to be certified as a .NET developer.
I have a mini framework written in .NET that already handles the database stuff (amongst other things) and does it reasonably well.
Linux is not so big where I live, most of my potential customers are moving to .NET. Most of them have windows servers.
"spaghetti" code inside html tags gives me a headache:)
If my business doesn't succeed, it would be easier for me to get another job if I had been working with .NET during my absence (.NET pays better than PHP)
I know it is very easy to learn, but I currently don't know PHP.



But it would only be the forums;) . It's almost like one of those sites where the forums are hosted by a third party. Other than that, do you think there is a technical reason why I shouldn't do this?

No, just make sure it will run on a windows box. I know a lot of routines such as send mail will not work right off the get go on a windows box. You may have issues w/ such stuff.

You make a lot of good points. Personally I use linux due to cost. Its cheap, effective, a lot of good developers know it, and its not proprietory. Sure windows is great for a lot of large organizations, but for small to medium size businesses? I've not once ran into a platform problem to where we couldn't handle any request due to using PHP.

[floyde]

You make a lot of good points. Personally I use linux due to cost. Its cheap, effective, a lot of good developers know it, and its not proprietory. Sure windows is great for a lot of large organizations, but for small to medium size businesses? I've not once ran into a platform problem to where we couldn't handle any request due to using PHP.

Well actually, I'm going to use Linux for my own web site. I can't afford Microsoft's licences ;). Also, if I ever get to the point where I'll be offering web hosting as well, then I'm going to use Linux for that too. I think the main issue here is that I don't want to waste my current .NET knowledge/experience, which may not be vast, but it sure is significant.
I might end up with PHP anyway... I fear XSP (which is the only means for serving ASP .NET pages on Linux) might not perform well enough for my purposes. Who knows, maybe it'll be decent enough by the time I get started.

[littlejim]

"spaghetti" code inside html tags gives me a headache

If you do go down the PHP route, be sure to look into Smarty (http://smarty.php.net/).
If used sparingly and correctly, it does a decent job of keeping php away from markup!

Since I started using it, there isn't one bit of PHP in my HTML.

[MacFan25863]

I use both PHP and ASP (ASP at work, PHP at home). I tend to prefer PHP for the larger support base and the open-source projects that use it.

If your only concern is seeing the different extensions, you could always just mask the file name using .htaccess

[superbovine]

Hi guys, I've been doing a lot of research on web technologies lately because I want to start my own web design business. For reasons that I briefly discussed here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=162393) (last post), I have chosen ASP .NET to be my main server side technology. However, I also want to take advantage of several PHP open source projects, such as these forums (http://www.phpbb.com/), at least until I have the time to build my own. I couldn't think of any unsurmountable disadvantage that would result from using both ASP .NET and PHP on the same site, but maybe I'm missing the whole picture as I still lack a lot of experience in web development. What do you guys think? Would you use both in this case? why or why not?
Also, consider that both asp's and php's would run on the same web server (apache with mod_mono) and that the PHP stuff would be ready-made (ASP .NET stuff I will develop myself). Thanks


what kind of server are you going to run this on?

[floyde]

If you do go down the PHP route, be sure to look into Smarty (http://smarty.php.net/).

If your only concern is seeing the different extensions, you could always just mask the file name using .htaccess
Good stuff! I'll look into it.


what kind of server are you going to run this on?
Well for starters, my Powerbook...:o (I still need to do a lot of testing) Our first "customer" (which is a friend who is kind enough to let us test all sorts of crazy stuff) is running FreeBSD, so that'll be an interesting gig. I don't have the details of the actual hardware yet.
The idea though, is to be able to use this setup on at least Windows and Linux servers. In the case of Windows, I would use IIS since there is no mod_mono for Windows yet.